Spring has sproinged.

Posted by: Nic

The weather has started to get noticeably warmer over the past two weeks. The leaf-buds are just starting to swell and some trees are putting on blossom.



My post-doc is going well enough. I am starting to establish Canola experiments and we are gearing-up for experimental work on Switchgrass. The picture below is of my "supervisor" Ron Heiniger and one of our trial plots. It is an interesting farm to work on - with bears in the forest and alligators in the drains.




Now, I've decided that your average American TV show is actually no worse than your average Aussie TV show. Of course I think your average Aussie TV show is shit so that is not saying much. The problem is that there is just more shows to be shit with 40 channels. What really bugs me though are the commercials. We like to sit down each night and watch the Daily Show but have to endure the horrific chimerical breaks where, for example, people tell you to join their Internet marketing scheme - they did and they now live in a mansion - while the bottom of the screen says "results not typical". During these I get the overwhelming urge to throw things at the TV screen. So the other day, when I saw the following toy, I was extremely interested.



I did some research and found I could get one for the low low price of $10. So I did. Now I only watch TV with a pile of sultanas that I can shoot at the screen. Granted, the ads don't go away, but it makes me feel a lot better. Sal has given me permission to do this, provided I clean up the mess afterwards.


Finally, to more wholesome activities. The two drums I am holding contain whole meal and white flour. I have embarked on bread-making, a hobby I had left behind in Perth. It wasn't going too well but I got some advice from a computer programmer/baker (just trust me, he knows what he is talking about) and the last loaf I made was awesome. Perhaps I could make dough balls to shoot at the screen, now there's an idea...